


minutes to midnight

by glittercake



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: (actually meet ugly), Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Fireworks, Flirting, Kissing, M/M, Meet-Cute, Messy Bucky/Hot Sam, New Year's Eve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28459269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glittercake/pseuds/glittercake
Summary: "Oh hey, it's your neighbor from down the hall. I saw your lights were still on. And uh—"Oh shit.Hot Neighbor dude. Bucky's seen him around, and he's that kind of cute that makes you immediately ignore the hell out of them. Makes you look away and pretend they don't exist.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Sam Wilson
Comments: 16
Kudos: 165





	minutes to midnight

**Author's Note:**

> based on [this prompt](https://dailyau.tumblr.com/post/635595225638813696/fuck-me-youre-cute-why-did-we-have-to-meet-on) from dailyau on tumblr.
> 
> also, happy new year guys! stay safe <3

Bucky's been a total slob. 

He's home alone, roommates gone for the holidays, family all doing their own thing, there's no reason for pants _whatsoever._

But it is freezing, and like Becca said, he's a baby, so he has been in these stained sweats and a SpongeBob hoodie since at least yesterday. Mismatched socks and fingerless mittens, hair half falling out of the ponytail it was in last night. He made Messy the holiday theme this year.

He's binge-watching all the action movies on Netflix and snacking on hot Cheetos and cranberry juice, and by now, his fingers are stained beyond repair. He also set up his roommate's tiny bar fridge with soda cans for deluxe laziness.

And he's perfectly happy being this way, perfectly happy becoming one with the couch as he sinks deeper into the cushions. So long as he can still reach the Cheetos.

Since he's not expecting anyone to stop by, especially on New Year's Eve, the t.v volume's up pretty loud, and at first, he mistakes the knocks on his door for fireworks until it's near-violent.

"Okay! I'm coming! Jesus!" he calls out after the fourth loud bang, mouth still working on the last handful of Cheetos. The remote's somewhere under the blankets or cushions or on the floor, probably, and it takes a few more minutes to get his shit together to turn off the t.v.

When the movie explosions and gunfire and anxiety inducing music is finally silent, he heads to the door. A little suspicious, he says, "Who is it?"

"Oh hey, it's your neighbor from down the hall. I saw your lights were still on. And uh—" 

Oh shit. 

Hot Neighbor dude. Bucky's seen him around, and he's that kind of cute that makes you immediately ignore the hell out of them. Makes you look away and pretend they don't exist. 

"You there, man?" he says. 

"No." Bucky blurts out, then cringes immediately. 

His neighbor laughs, "No?" 

Bucky starts furiously wiping his fingers on his sweats, using his yellow SpongeBob sleeve to wipe his mouth and pulling at his hair like that'll make any difference to his dirty baby appearance. 

"Uh, I mean… yes. Yes, I'm here?"

Hot Neighbor's quiet for a second. Bucky hopes he's just here to drop off some mail or a wrongly delivered package and that he doesn't actually want to come in. 

"Alright, well, I was just wondering… I don't know. I guess I thought if we're both here alone on New Year's, we could—you know what, never mind." Bucky hears a shuffle outside the door, "This was stupid."

And look, Bucky's not about letting cute guys that he always ignores slip through his fingers. 

He swings the door open, "Wait!" 

Hot Neighbor stops, back to Bucky since he was actually leaving, then turns around. He's also wearing sweats but with much less grease on them, a soft-looking blue crewneck, and has a brown grocery baggie in one hand.

Now, at first, he smiled as he turned. Then, taking in Bucky's now Cheeto stained sweats and oversized, wrinkly SpongeBob hoodie... his expression turns comic. 

"Nah, man, if you're busy—" he doesn't finish, but the curved, teasing grin says it all. 

And _ooof._ Bucky was right to ignore him; he's way out of Bucky's league, Bucky's bound to make a fool of himself. He's already doing it, in fact.

"I'm not!" he says way too fast, pulling the sweater down to maybe cover some orange stains. Save some dignity. "I'm _so_ not busy."

Hot Neighbor grins, one eyebrow going up, "Really? Looks like you got pretty intimate with…" he points to Bucky's fingers, "What is that? Cheeto dust?"

Bucky makes a pained noise, drops his head, "Yeah. It's Cheeto dust." he points to his cheek, "And this is probably chocolate."

He hears a low chuckle and the plastic packet crinkling and looks up. Hot Neighbor's holding up a jumbo pack of hot Cheetos, smiling. "I got chocolate too," he says. 

Bucky's grin is so cheesy and wide it hurts. This guy brought snacks, and he wants to spend time with Bucky, and he's not about to shut that down. So as nasty as he looks, he invites the cutest guy in the building inside the mess that is is apartment.

"Nice place," he says when he steps into Bucky's living room, looking around, specifically at the heap of blankets on the double couch and the empty soda cans stacked like a tower beside the sofa. 

"You had to come over the one day that my shit's a mess, huh?" Bucky grumbles as he starts straightening out where he can. 

"Hey, I've been in bed since Tuesday. I think I lost my cat and a pizza slice in there somewhere." he starts packing out the Cheetos and a six-pack beer on Bucky's coffee table, then makes himself comfortable on the two-seater. 

"I'm Sam, by the way," he says and winks at Bucky. And his beard's a little shabby, and he's got a tiny gap in his teeth and a small chin dimple, and nice broad shoulders. He's just… very, very handsome and.... Gah. 

Bucky blinks dumbly, about to stick his hand out to introduce himself but remembers his ugly orange fingers and instead says, "And I'm gonna take a shower before talking to you any further." then turns on his heel and heads to the bathroom. 

* * *

"I'm James," Bucky says when he finally emerges from the steamy bathroom. He's shaved, he's got leave-in conditioner in his hair that smells like jasmine, he's wearing deodorant now, and he put on a decent pair of black sweats and a newer, not-SpongeBob hoodie. 

All that embarrassment seems to have been worth it because of the way Sam looks at him now… It's nice. 

"Look who ain't a dirty little street Cheeto after all," Sam says, but Bucky doesn't miss him stealing a look. 

Bucky flops down beside him with a laugh, "A street Cheeto?? Jesus, that's the worst thing anyone's ever called me, and my sister still calls me snot boy." 

Sam makes a face, his head moves like he's reeling away from Bucky, but he also seems on the cusp of laughter, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

"Oh, I had this thing as a kid when I got excited." He makes an exaggerated gesture at his nose like something's coming out. Sam's got this half disgusted, half-hysterical look on his face as he starts laughing. 

"That's nasty," he says, and his eyes narrow, and his smile is wide and gorgeous, "You still do that?"

Bucky smiles back; maybe he's staring just a little at his hot neighbor from down the hall who is now comfortable on his couch and making jokes with him. 

"Sometimes," he says, and sniffs once, hard and revels in Sam's laughter once again. 

He nudges Bucky with his elbow, looking away, "Man, play the movie, snot boy." 

And so he does. They finish the one he was busy with, start another one, order pizza from the place down the road and get just a _little_ tipsy off Sam's beer.

Halfway through the second movie, when Sam comes back from the bathroom, he sits down just a little closer to Bucky. Just closing the space between them and instead of a pile of blankets, Bucky now has Sam's arm and thigh pressed against his own. 

Sam looks over at him, raises a brow again and wiggles his shoulders just a bit to comfortable. They stay like that for the rest of the film, but Bucky isn't really paying attention anymore. All he can think of is the warmth radiating from Sam and how he wouldn't mind having his entire body sharing the heat his arm and thigh are currently enjoying.

And so perhaps he sinks down a little lower, leans a little more towards Sam. And maybe Sam doesn't mind all that much because he shifts down too, toward Bucky and brings his arm up over the back of the couch and around Bucky's shoulders. 

They only share a content and knowing look before Bucky settles tightly against Sam's side, Sam with a small, lopsided smirk.

Bucky only realizes it's midnight when the fireworks start shooting off outside, leaving colorful sparks in the night sky outside his window. 

"Oh wow," Sam says, and he gets up to take a closer look. Bucky feels the cold straight away; he suppresses the urge to pull Sam right back down and continue the cuddling they started. Which is terrible of him since he doesn't even know the man. 

Instead of being weird, he gets up to join Sam at the window for the fireworks display. It's beautiful, all vivid and bright and loud, and if he's honest, he never would have bothered looking if he'd been by himself. 

"Nice, huh?" Sam looks at him, lip corners canted up.

Bucky nods, looking back, "Yeah. Happy New Year, man." He says a little too quietly for his own good, struggling just a little to look away from Sam's mouth. 

"Thanks," Sam says, his cheery expression gives way to something slightly nervous, something hesitant. But then his eyes drop to Bucky's mouth too, and he guesses they're on the same page then because Sam leans in. "Happy New Year." 

And then he's pressing their lips together slow and tentatively, lingering just a moment before leaning back.

Bucky only stares for perhaps two stupid seconds, licking his lips where Sam's had been for not nearly long enough before he slips his hand behind Sam's neck and pulls him closer again. 

This time there's nothing slow and tentative about it. Sam kisses real nice, his lips are smooth and warm on Bucky's, and his arms are all the way around Bucky's waist, and it's only a little uncomfortable kissing up against the window. 

He gets lost in it for a while, their hands roaming, the soft sounds Sam makes drowned out by the fireworks, and it's damn near perfect until Sam pulls away. 

His eyes narrow, a flash of playfulness in them, and he says, "You feeling excited, snot boy?"

Bucky laughs but starts dragging Sam closer again, "Kiss me some more and find out, neighbor," he says.

Humming, Sam gives his arm a deliberately graceless tug, aiming for the couch again and getting his thick arms around Bucky's waist once more. He thinks he likes where this is going, he likes that look in Sam's eye, and the feel of them pressed together. 

And maybe this is the best New Year's he's had in pretty much ever.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Find me here too: [glittercake](https://glittercake.tumblr.com/)


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